[red queen oneshots]

How about Tiberias? - Mare x Cal

Mare wanders into the room, finding Cal. He fiddles with some gears, face set in concentration, a corner of his mouth tugs to the side. A habit he's developed. "Okay so I was thinking..."

Cal jumps, never breaking his focus. "Uhuh, thanks for the warning."

Mare, annoyed, decides to slap the burner across the cheek.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

Smug, Mare crosses her arms. Cal turns from what he was doing to rub his cheek. "Now you're listening, so I was thinking..."

"Yeah, I got that."

Mare backhands Cal on the other cheek. He yelps, rubbing both cheeks like a child. "Ow! Okay, okay, what were you thinking?"

"About names."

Confused, he asks. "What do you m - oh, right."

Mare rolls her eyes, finding Cal's stupidity amusing. "At first, I was like no way, but now I'm think Tiberias might be kinda cute."

Cal instantly frowns. "No."

"Why not? I like it."

Cal drags a hand down his face, Mare's too stubborn sometimes. "Mare, there has been seven Tiberiases..." He pauses unsure if he's said it right. "...es, I don't think this world can handle and eighth."

Mare nods softly. "Okay, then what names do we not what?"

In unison, the two both say, "Maven."

"Finally we agree on something." Mare mutters.

"Any other's?"

Mare frowns, thinking. "Russel."

Cal cocks his head to the side, curious. "Why Russel?"

"Dunno, always hated the name." She shrugs, one shoulder raised.

"Oh." Cal taps his finger on his bottom lip and adds. "And definitely not Elara."

"Or Mare and Molly."

Sighing, he asks. "So you don't want to name the baby after yourself but you want to name them after me?!"

Mare quirks an eyebrow playfully, elbowing Cal. "Do you have a problem with that, Tiberias?"

He lets out an annoyed huff. "Please don't call me that. Still not naming them that, beside we don't even know if they're going to be a boy or girl yet. Why now?"

"'Cause I'd like to be one step ahead for once."

Cal bobs his head, not furthering her reasoning behind that. The memories are uncomfortable for the both of them. "Understandable but - " Off Mare's look, he crumbles. "Fine. I'll think about it."

Mare smirks, smug that's she's won the battle for now. "Okay, how about names we maybe want?"

"Uh... I haven't really thought about that. Um... yeah, I don't know... I guess like a normal name, one that doesn't relate to any... past experiences." He taps his foot, eager to get back to tinkering with the machine on the desk.

"So how about Tiberias?"

Cal drags hand down his face. "Mare, no."

She laughs, "I'm kidding. Emery? Hayden?"

"Where are you getting these?"

Mare casts a look over her shoulder. "I told you I've been thinking about this, these things just don't pop up out of the ground."

Cal holds his hands up in surrender. "Okay... I'll think about it." He turns back to what he was doing before Mare came in. She kisses his temple, slinging an arm around his shoulder.

"So what are you doing with that?"

"To be honest, I have no clue." Cal twists a gear into place, it makes a clicking noise.

"Well, that sounds like you. Absolutely no idea what you're doing." Mare drawls, heading to the door.

"Hey!" He shouts after her, but Mare's already gone.

** A/n: this is short and sweet, the Marecal I wish we got at the end of King's Cage. But no... Just a reminder: These characters aren't mine (except the occasional OC) they are property of Victoria Aveyard. This is a fan fiction, but that doesn't mean I don't have my own ideas. So please don't steal Victoria's characters or my own plot ideas. **